CBS News recently ran a great piece on the “Ungers” a group of people convicted of crimes in Maryland who, because of incorrect – and unconstitutional – instructions judges gave juries, were denied due process. They were granted new trials and released, and as of this writing, none of the more than 159 released have committed any felonies, meaning the recidivism rate for the group is holding steady at 0%.
This is due, in part, to OSI’s partnership with Maryland Office of the Public Defender as well as two grantees, the University of Maryland Carey School of Law’s Law and Social Work Services Program and Maryland Restorative Justice Initiative, providing in-prison and post-release reentry services to all of the individuals in the group.
This work demonstrated that, with effective reentry services, many of those currently incarcerated can safely be released. Learn more about the Unger group and how our grantees worked with them in our Impact Report.